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Robert Grenier
| birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = poet, editor | nationality = | ethnicity = | citizenship = American | education = | alma_mater = | period = | genre = | subject = | movement = Language poetry | notableworks = Sentences | spouse = | partner = | children = | relatives = | influences = | influenced = | awards = | signature = | website = | portaldisp = }} Robert Grenier (born August 4, 1941) is a contemporary American poet associated with the Language School. Life Grenier was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Iowa Program in Creative Writing. He has taught literature and creative writing at UC Berkeley, Tufts, Franconia College, New College of California, and Mills College. He was founding co-editor (with Barrett Watten) of the influential magazine This (1971-1974). This was a watershed moment in the history of recent American poetry, providing one of the earliest gatherings in print of various writers, artists, and poets now identified (or loosely referred to) as the Language poets. He is the co-editor of The Collected Poems of Larry Eigner, Volumes 1-4, published by Stanford University Press in 2010, and was the editor of Robert Creeley's Selected Poems, published in 1976. In an essay from the 1st issue of This, Grenier declared: "I HATE SPEECH". Ron Silliman, commenting on Robert Grenier's gesture some years afterward, wrote: Writing Grenier's early work, influenced by Creeley, is noted for its minimalism. Grenier's recent work, however, is as much visual as verbal, involving multicolor "drawn" poems in special (and not always reproducible) formats. Grenier’s recent "books" have been variously described as folios of haiku-like inscriptions or transcriptions. Examples of his current holograph poems can be seen on-line through the Grenier Author Page at the Electronic Poetry Center (see section below: "External links"). Curtis Faville (who co-edited the The Collected Poems of Larry Eigner with Grenier) states that Grenier "has gone on to produce a new hybrid form--neither "poetry" nor graphic art—which treats words (letters) as a form of literal visual design, in which "legibility" hovers at the edge of apprehension". Publications Poetry *''Dusk Road Games'' (poems, 1960–66). Cambridge, MA: Pym-Randall Press, 1967. *''Sentences Towards Birds'' (41 poems from Sentences). Kensington, CA: L Press, 1975. *''Series'' (poems, 1967–71). San Francisco: This Press, 1978. *''Sentences'' (500 poems on 5" x 8" index cards, boxed, 1972–77). Cambridge, MA Whale Cloth Press, 1978. *''CAMBRIDGE M'ASS'' (265 poems on 40" x 48" poster). Berkeley, CA: Tuumba Press, 1979. *''Oakland''. Berkeley, CA: Tuumba Press, 1980. *''A Day At The Beach''. New York: Roof Books, 1985. *''Phantom Anthems''. Oakland, CA: O Books, 1986. *''What I Believe''. Elmwood, CT: Potes & Poets Press, 1988. *''What I Believe transpiration/transpiring Minnesota'' (66 8.5" x 11" pages, unbound, boxed). Oakland, CA: O Books, 1991. *''12 from r h y m m s'' (12 4-color 8-1/2" x 11" drawing poems in envelope). Columbus, OH: Pavement Saw Press, 1996. *''OWL/ON/BOU/GH'' (32 4-color 11" x 17" drawing poems in black portfolio). Sausalito, CA: Post-Apollo Press, 1997. See also *List of U.S. poets References External links ;Poems *Robert Grenier EPC Author Page at the Electronic Poetry Center (EPC) ;Audio / video *Robert Grenier at PennSound. *[http://www.textfestival.com/when/view-23 Text Festival Grenier Page] relates Grenier's participation on 29 September 2005, in Great Britain ;Etc. *[http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/spc/xml/m1082.xml Guide to the Robert Grenier Papers, 1941-1999] located at Department of Special Collections, Green Library, Stanford University Libraries *[http://ronsilliman.blogspot.com/2007/05/of-my-reluctance-in-1970-to-include-bob.html Ron Silliman on Grenier's minimalism] American poet Ron Silliman discusses both Grenier and American poet Aram Saroyan in the context of their minimalism (On Silliman's Blog, May 21, 2007). (Scroll down to the comments section for an interesting history of Grenier's various writing periods and publications provided by American poet Curtis Faville). *Robert Grenier and Charles Bernstein: A Conversation appearing in the on-line zine: Jacket, No. 35 (2008) * Larry Eigner Author Page at Stanford University Press The publisher of The Collected Poems of Larry Eigner, Volumes 1-4 offers extensive resources on Eigner's life to include reviews, descriptions, and a pdf file of Grenier's "Introduction" Category:American people of French descent Category:American poets Category:1941 births Category:Living people Category:Harvard University alumni Category:University of Iowa alumni Category:Language poets Category:American magazine founders